Gestalt

My sketch done with a greater acknowledgment of Gestalt

My sketching subject

I think the just the word Gestalt is cool to say all by itself. It reminds me of gesture, which comes back to the meaning of the word an organized whole that is perceived as more than the sum of its parts, or even simpler how the small things relate to the big picture. And even more literal form and shape. I feel like after learning about this word and having to do sketching activities, I feel more confident in my sketching abilities than I did before. Because before when I would sketch I would have only focused on a small area and then worked my way out around whatever drawing I was doing.

This can be applied to everything design related, because when designers alike try to come up with new ideas, they can stem from a theme that id the larger picture and then after wards the smaller details come easier to fit the theme of whatever the idea was in the first place. For example, lets say you want to plan a wedding but you don’t really know what style to choose, wedding planners oftentimes consider the clients personality to dig for a style preference. Like if a client is loud and happy, their style might be more bolder, and edgier because of their personality, and this is like the big picture. Then after the client finally agrees to go with the “Edgier” style for a wedding, the cool details or the smaller aspects can be delegated.

Be it either sketching or picking a style for a wedding, Gestalt fits its way into things to make sense and to organize things.

Design as a Conversation

What first came to mind when I hear "Design as Conversation" I imagine fashion as an easy example to consider this theme. Because all people are essentially conveying a message to others without words but through fashion. It can be a as simple as a gym outfit, when we look closely we can tell what type of workout the individual is going to do. For example, if we observed a young man walking in to the arc with sneakers and basketball shorts we know he is more likely to be headed to the courts or the track, either than a group session of yoga. And this "reading" and analyzing of outfits or compositions transcends to other forms of design such as interior design. You can tell a lot about a person by looking into their personal space. They even have an exhibit at the Exploratorium, where you get to analyze a persons home and try to guess from snapshots to whom it belongs too. For example, you could tell what was important to a person by things and objects that they kept like photographs and a keepsakes. There was one social experiment at the Exploratorium that had an older male as the owner of all the things, and he had old military photos and you could tell that the military was still with him because of the way he kept all of his button up shirts neat and hung up in the closet. The conversation is everywhere, you just have to know where to look and be kind of like a detective to look for clues and signals.

Exhibit in Walker Hall, Vanishing Traditions

A shot from Hmong New Year during a ball toss courtship game

Unfortunately I was not able to make it to hear the curator Bea Roberts speak, but I was able to view the extraordinary collection of garments and ornaments. When I first walked in to the gallery I felt a sense of awe and familiarity, I have seen similar creations by the Hmong people. After doing a little research, I found out that some Hmong people migrated to Southern China, and that is probably the reason for similarity. The following link is of an article that I used as a source http://www.international.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=12590
I really felt a sense of passion and dedication in the pieces because of all the extensive details that took years and years to complete. I remember my friends in elementary telling me that their traditional garb would take a lot of time and patience to make.
Some of the differences and similarities between the garments that I noticed was that the traditional Hmong garb had a lot of bright neon colors, and some of the pieces in the collection did have a lot of color, but not neon. Another difference that I noticed was that there was a lot of garments with two or three colors, like black and gold. But one of the real big similarities was with the ornamental headdress with all the dangling charms, I remember a lot of headdresses with charms.

Product Design

I never thought I had ever noticed or admired product design, until I became a design major. I was always aware of when my candy product design suddenly changed, and I was never too enthusiastic about it. I always thought along with that old saying “If it aint broke, don’t fix it” mentality. But then after awhile I would kind of get excited to see what new thing the company’s would come up with, like the one that comes to mind is the Pepsi can label design. I clearly remember that one changing a lot of times during my childhood. I think the only reason they like to come up with new snazzy designs, is to make you think it’s a new product, and that way they sell more product. Which for a product like soda or candy I guess you need to maintain interest.

My Refrigerator

I recently noticed that the overall look of my refrigerator highly improves when it’s stocked with healthier foods. It's all of the fresh strawberries and vibrant green lettuces, complimented by the red tomatoes. It actually turns out to like a designed pattern because there are different colors, shapes and textures to look at. Whereas, when there are unhealthy foods it looks less natural, more commercial, and more or less, less appetizing. What this reminds me of is the stocked refrigerators with the glass doors at Panda Express, all of the chopped veggies ready to be cooked almost look sculptural in a way. Beautiful with their simplistic form and color, all lit and almost glowing with pride. I wish that my refrigerator could one day look something like that of Panda’s. Not just because its healthy, but because it looks like a designed piece that somebody took a lot of time and care for. The food almost looks too good to be eaten, as if we were only meant to look at it and admire it from a far. 

Stone Soup

Stone Soup was an interesting way to experiment at just how the creative process is handled between a large group of people. I felt like in order for our group to of had had a more productive/engaging creative process, we could of used a little more forethought and planning. Because a lot of us, including myself, had no idea for what to create for the assignment. I feel like we felt trapped in the broad range of possibilities and we were unsure of what to create for our assignment. With no theme or idea or inspiration to spark our imaginations, the suggestions and ideas came in very slowly.

We first tried to brainstorm and jot down ideas to go from, then we took a brief catalogue of our supplies that we had to work with. This was just as Lauer had mentioned in Design Basics, 1. Thinking, 2. Looking, 3. Making/Doing. Which for #3 was the harder one to commit to. Another obstacle that our group encountered was staying within the time constraints; we really didn’t keep track of time until we noticed the rest of the groups were finishing up. As well as making sure that everybody helped to contribute, and had some sort of task to perform.

I understood afterwards the reason for being assigned this task, which was to work as a group creatively as we would in a future work setting. Sometimes you don’t have all the supplies or materials you may need, but you need to work with what you have creatively.

Glance at all of the groups displays.

Adding some finishing touches to our project.

Our final groups efforts.

My earliest memories of design....

My earliest memories of design stem back to all the arts and crafts projects we had to do in grade school. This was always a favorite time of class for me, because it meant that I could let my imagination run wild. I remember my kindergarten or first grade teacher being shocked that I had made her a card depicting a scene from a book that we had read. The book was about the caterpillars transformation, and to show the caterpillar I cut out a long piece of paper and folded it accordion style and then added eyes and had a whole scene going with the moon and a tree in the background. It was not a required assignment, but I had so much fun playing with my construction paper, glue, and scissors at home I wanted her to have it. With my supplies I felt invincible with my never ending imagination at hand. My mom and grandma always looked at me with amazement, because I could be left alone for hours with my supplies creating and designing whatever my hearts desired.

Water Fountain

I recently noticed the huge streamlined water fountain outside of our lecture hall, and thought wow this is pretty old. I had never seen one with a step feature before, and I was pretty amazed that it was still working and quenching students thirst. This goes to show how design just really is everywhere, even when it comes to our water fountains. They don't have to be just plain and simple water fountains. Our water fountain has an air of elegance compared to its surroundings, its logo even appears to resemble a bow tie slightly. After taking a sip from the water fountain, I started to think about how somebody probably created the design to resemble a car or a train, and decided to add "the bowtie" as a finishing touch. I hope the water fountain lasts.

Design in Society

Before I started taking design classes I did not grasp to the fullest extent how much design is intertwined with our society. I would say that I may of had a much smaller notion of it, and was obviously yearning to learn more through my classes. I appreciate good design so much better now, I see it everywhere!!! Its almost cataclysmic, from the layout of a hotel lobby, or a fashion spread in a magazine, even new product packaging. I feel that I have a bigger appreciation for functional design though, seeing something created that fulfills a greater purpose in society, is I feel, the utmost return for a designer. Like currently with the Green trend, products that are created from sustainable materials, or reclaimed materials I feel set a moral standard that we should be taking care of our earth. And that we should be aware of where our products are coming from and where they will eventually go. 

Sustainable shopping bag made from rice bag and an old pair of jeans.

Side View

In a previous class I learned this lesson through a Challenge assignment where we had to study where plastic bags where being made from and where they would go. I learned that they were being made with a lot of petroleum oil, and after a couple of uses, then they would be tossed and end up in the dump for a thousand years before breaking down, or fly away and get caught in a tree, or float into the ocean and create more havoc there. After learning the sad truth, we continued our assignment by making a sturdy reusable shopping bag from sustainable materials. There were a lot of creative bag design submissions that the class completed, like a book turned bag, and a basmati rice bag, and some made of fabric samples. This is the type of design that I feel provides a practical solution to a large problem. Through this assignment I was able to indirectly educate people about the purpose behind the design and they loved hearing about it. My family friends would see me carrying the bag that I had made and they asked me, "What is that?" "Why did you make it?" and "How can I make one?" Their curiosity and minds opened up to the idea of functional design, because it made sense. I hope that in the future my designs still grab peoples attention and provoke dialogue.